Learning neighbourhood environments: the loss of experience in a modern world

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511521232.006

5 - Learning neighbourhood environments: the loss of experience in a modern world

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 October 2009

Antonella Rissotto and

M. Vittoria Giuliani

Edited by

Christopher Spencer and

Mark Blades

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Christopher Spencer: Affiliation:
University of Sheffield
Mark Blades: Affiliation:
University of Sheffield

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Summary

Maria loves cakes. She can always tell you which local cake shop has the freshest whipped cream, the richest cheese cake, the vanilla slice which melts in your mouth or the lightest puff pastry. She also knows which of these shops is nearest to home and which is furthest away, yet she can't explain to her friend, who lives in another part of the town, which of them would be her nearest cake shop.

Anna often takes her dog for a walk and she likes to let him wander off the lead. On one of their walks she discovered a car-free track between two rows of houses: an excellent shortcut for walking to school.

It's always David who decides where he and his friends will play football in their neighbourhood: he not only knows where, but also when to play so that the neighbours don't complain about the noise.

Mark stopped wanting to go to school on his own because of a menacing drunk he always encountered on the way. When Louis showed him another route, frequented by more people and with fewer risks, he was very relieved.

These fictitious, but plausible, examples illustrate some of the types of skills which form part of environmental competence. They also show the different types of relationships which exist between children and their everyday environment. What does knowing your own neighbourhood or, on a wider basis, the environment in which one lives, mean?

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Type: Chapter
Information: Children and their Environments
Learning, Using and Designing Spaces
, pp. 75 - 90

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511521232.006 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2006

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